If someday we do profess
Wear your brand new midi dress,
Fun shoes, denim jacket too
No one else but me and you
I'll tie my hair back, nice cologne
Cheshire boots will set the tone
A quiet moment with no fuss
'Til later on when it's just us
Sometimes writing poetry is my mistake,
Better to embark on a large cargo ship,
Which will take you to Tahiti or Honolulu,
Better give candy to a blue-eyed schoolgirl,
Sometimes writing poetry is my mistake,
Better to cook a chicken with lime,
Better to read the confessions of Saint Augustine
Or spend the afternoon at the movies with people,
Sometimes writing poetry is a strange mistake,
Especially never think that we have talent, genius,
Better to visit Lisbon or Patagonia,
Listen to fado with the Big Dipper.
Parfois, écrire de la poésie est une erreur,
Mieux vaut embarquer sur un grand cargo,
Qui vous conduira jusqu’à Tahiti ou Honolulu,
Mieux vaut offrir des bonbons à une écolière aux yeux bleus,
Parfois écrire de la poésie est une erreur,
Mieux vaut cuisiner un poulet au citron vert,
Mieux vaut lire les confessions de Saint Augustin
Ou passer son après-midi au cinéma avec des gens,
Parfois écrire de la poésie est une erreur bizarre,,
Surtout ne jamais penser que l’on a du talent, du génie,
Mieux vaut visiter Lisbonne ou la Patagonie,
Écouter du fado en compagnie de la Grande Ourse.
Your smile is three times,
The circle of the earth,
It’s sweeter than a California orange
Offered at noon twelve, outside the table,
Your smile refreshes me
As the source of sin,
He makes up a reason,
To live like a lizard
Caught by the sun,
To give answers
To all your questions,
Your eyes also circle the earth three times.
Ton sourire fait trois fois,
Le tour de la terre,
Il est plus doux qu’une orange de Californie
Offerte à midi douze, en dehors de la table,
Ton sourire me rafraichit
Comme la source d’un péché,
Il m’invente une raison,
Pour vivre comme un lézard
Attrapé par le soleil,
Pour donner des réponses
À toutes tes questions,
Ton regard aussi fait trois fois le tour de la terre.
A NOTE FROM MALCOLM
My advice is free, and time’s not billable
Try speaking French and I will soon know
Don’t claim a local or a provincial accent
It really does not sound as if heaven-sent
Nor a comment heard such as il fait beau
As the accent is always on the last syllable
As a teacher, these things do really matter
One must develop that Gallic look as well
Sometimes that simple shrug just says it all
From Southern Pyrenees up North to Gaul
Whether from Paris or le Midi, one can tell
In some regions, the vowels do sound fatter
So, let us practice the deep grunting sounds
And don’t forget all those hand gestures too
But accents can apply to letters when written
Cedillas, acute or grave never seen in Britain
Where just the plain and simple words will do
Whilst pretty perfume accents do the rounds
Sunday
fun day
elders
brothers
from church
they search
warm place
wide space
for folks
need jokes
chill out
burnt-out
tired knees
'neath trees
19 April 2022
A Brian Strand Premiere Choice Poetry Contest
2nd place
Notes: A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (French: Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte) was painted from 1884 to 1886 and is Georges Seurat's most famous work. A leading example of pointillist technique, executed on a large canvas, it is a founding work of the neo-impressionist movement. Seurat's composition includes a number of Parisians at a park on the banks of the River Seine. It is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago.(Credits: Wikimedia and Wikipedia).
Pride of Place - My Mother's Piano
My mother’s hands on ivory keys wove enchanted runes
Then flew across the keyboard in musical monsoons
Notes of black and white in song serenades communed
She coaxed the claviature to plaintive and musical cartoons.
Eighty-eight keys remember days of Claire de Lune,
Sonatas lyrical shimmers recall enchantments of the moon,
Bewitching notes that bloomed in l’apres midi afternoons
Reminisce now that her treasured piano graces my front room.
2-7-22
Contest: Pride of Place
Sponsor: Julie Ward
Cliff
On sea cliffs walks a breath of grace
Windswept wonder splashed on her face
Sun shadows dance around her feet,
Delight in this sandy retreat,
Green parasol, like flower blooms
Floral scents and ocean perfumes,
Flowing spice of the salty air,
Carefree breeze tugs curls in her hair.
Wind song of the sea sings in riffs
From hiding places runs up cliffs
Chases sunlight - l’apres midi –
Sea shanty chorus, whimsy free,
Ruffles chaste lace of petticoats
Playful whiffs ‘round her bonnet float
Bluffs of pink granite precipice
Sports wild poppies, crinolines crisp.
Palisade crags – coast of flowers -
Begs delight from her leisure hours
Spreads her a cape of boutons d’or,
Golden bouquet – beauty implores -
Playful cloud shadows, like sea drift,
Hug windy paths upon the cliff
Grace strolls in afternoon’s repose
Blossom of the Fleurie Coast rose.
1-25-22
Contest: C Form - Couplet
Sponsor: Constance La France
Based on Monet’s painting of Madame Monet at Trouville France. Trouville is a resort city in Normandy that is part of the Fleurie Coast – Coast of Flowers.
TOM-JERRY and MICKEY-MNNIE
Tom -Jerry
loved ferry.
But in air, built castle
and abandoned vessel.
Mickey – Minnie
Midi-Mini.
Mickey wears yellow shoes-red shots
Minnie likes dress with polka dots
09/13/21
'Cleritoons' Contest by Joseph May.
no more ringing
in my ears always
being Quasimodo
screaming about
the bells
i set my house
phone ring tone
to play a MIDI
Wagner Ride
of the Valkyries
and my cellphone
wake up alarm tone
is Bach's cello
bourree which
peacefully draws
me from my sleep
but the machines
at work later take
over so yelling
becomes
the norm for
speaking so
now i adorn
headphones
after work
to muffle
the rapid
discharge
of shots
at the shooting
range
A democratic process is done with three elements in a pool of maxi,midi and mini matching the three phases of a house construction like foundation,walls and roof.
Maxi is people,midi the Government and mini is Ministers working for a trust as trustees between people and the Government.
Mini means small and in the last layer of authority.
But now mini is more than midi and maxi!
There will be bell bottoms at the nursing home with me grinin'
And "Play that funky music white boy" will be spinin'
With body shirts clinging to a hairy chest
Gold necklace that bobs and jiggles at its best
As I strut my stuff going to meal time
Seeing all the cool ladies in their midi skirts so find
And when I dig it in the sun, man will I be fun
Chrome sunglasses with big lenses will be the won
You see the 70's was where it was at
And ya see straight away I'm going back.
© Paul Warren Poetry
Kei behem nameh midi
Poem 1) Kheili khosh geli
Poem 2) Ou cheshaye ghashangi dareh
Poem 3) jeegareto bokhoram
Even the Titles are in Persian, the actual poems are in English.
Louis came to the café around one,
set his wooden boxes beside a table
and looked at the chalk board menu as
he felt through his pants for money
He decided he could afford a
baguette, a small slice of
Brie de Meaux, and a pear
He told the waiter his order
and began to expose the copper plate
of the menu sitting on the next table
The waiter returned with lunch and
said "quatre francs s'il vous plaît" as
Louis dug his pants and handed payment
Then Louis began to eat while
time took in, the cost of capturing
the world in a whole new way
Popping the last of the Brie to mouth
he closed the aperture, put on his bowler
and said "bon monsieur l'après-midi"
and walked down the afternoon avenue
© Goode Guy 2013-11-18
ekphrastic for 2013-11-24 at
the Charles Taylor Art Museum of
"Pinhole Paris II: Café"
pinhole photograph by Cece Wheeler
Louis Daguerre, born just outside of Paris, France (1789-11-18)
The ungentle wind
breezes in through the window,
cooling an afternoon lust
that was widely soaked
in a summer haze, blending
with the sweet aroma of
a great Africa,
whose erotic craving was
painted in her big, round eyes;
only unearthed by
the master’s naked body
through her hot, darken coffee
--
The Master’s Piece, inspired by B.S. Picture Poems Contest
and it was based on Paul Cézanne’s «L'Après-midi à Naples» .
http://www.nga.gov.au/International/Catalogue/Detail.cfm?
IRN=98698&ViewID=2&GalID=ALL&MnuID=1
Midi bright October night,
In the sky-eyed clouds,
Gold and silver then my Lord
Did radiate thy wondrous light.
At each few steps I paused,
Turned my face upward
To bathe in your suspended strength -
Bearded Zeus,
Thy razor-sharp nose,
Square-cut head,
Ulotrichous beard,
Blazing away so near above -
Old Zeus
Cloud gatherer.
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